Tea and Social Class Boundaries in 19th Century England

Matthew Geronimo Professor Haydu SOCI 106 12 March 2013 Tea and Social Class Boundaries in 19th Century England How did tea rituals, customs, and etiquette reinforce social class boundaries in 19th century England? This question is relevant, in that it asks us to reflect on how simple commodities such as tea can distinguish social differences between classes, both past and present; it also allows us to ponder on how tea was popularized into the daily-consumed beverage it is to this day with people of all class backgrounds. In her book A Necessary Luxury: Tea in Victorian England (2008), Julie E.Fromer discusses how in 19th century England â€Å"new identification categories and new hierarchies of status developed along lines stemming from consumption habits, creating moral guidelines based on what and when and how one consumed the commodities of English culture,† (Fromer, 6). After discussing some origins of certain tea rituals such as low and high tea, I will elaborate on how those rituals influenced and reinforced social boundaries between the lower and upper classes; furthermore, I will analyze how certain tea customs and etiquette shaped the practice of tea-time between the lower and upper classes.There are variations on the origin of the afternoon tea ritual. â€Å"The accepted tea legend always attributes the ‘invention’ of afternoon tea to Anna Maria, wife of the 7th Duke of Bedford, who wrote to her brother-in-law in a letter sent from Windsor Castle in 1841: ‘I forgot to name my old friend Prince Esterhazy who drank tea with me the other evening at 5 o’clock, or rather was my guest amongst eight ladies at the Castle,† (Pettigrew, 102).While tea was already a luxurious beverage at the time, when to drink tea during the day became a national cultural custom. â€Å"The Duchess is said to have experienced ‘a sinking feeling’ in the middle of the afternoon, because of the long gap between luncheon and di nner and so asked her maid to bring her all the necessary tea things and something to eat – probably the traditional bread and butter – to her private room in order that she might stave off her hunger pangs,† (Pettigrew, 102).Upper-class citizens caught on with this trend, participating in a ritual that would define a nation. Upper-class families would participate in low tea at a good hour between lunch and dinner. â€Å"Manners of Modern Society, written in 1872, described the way in which afternoon tea had gradually become an established event. ‘Little Teas’, it explained, ‘take place in the afternoon’ and were so-called because of the small amount of food served and the neatness and elegance of the meal,† (Pettigrew, 104).Consuming food with tea during the day between meals might have speculated the English people for growing accustomed to eating too much during the day, but according to Marie Bayard in her Hints on Etiquette ( 1884), afternoon tea was â€Å"not supposed to be a substantial meal, merely a light refreshment. † She adds, â€Å"Cakes, thin bread and butter, and hot buttered scones, muffins, or toast are all the accompaniments strictly necessary. † The upper classes during the 19th century were known more for drinking more expensive and refined teas, such as those from China, Ceylon, or Assam.The wealthy and privileged groups of 19th century England took pride in their customs; with the custom of tea, they spared no expense in staying true to their idealized rituals. Low tea was a daily practice for the upper classes. Martha Chute created a series of watercolor paintings that portrayed daily life at the Vyne in Hampshire in the mid-nineteenth century. This particular 1860 watercolor (Pettigrew, 99) depicts a dining room table prepared for breakfast with the tea urn in the middle of the table and the tea cups laid out.The painting’s setting takes place in a very upper class room with portraits of upper class citizens and scenery artwork hung all around the room. Published in 1807, Thomas Rowlandson’s Miseries Personal (Pettigrew, 65) illustrates powerful upper-class men and women socializing while consuming tea to the extent that the men are all practically drunk because of drinking too much tea. From the illustration, the audience can see that these powerful men have no cares, worries, or concerns at all; they’re not worried about getting food on the table for their families.They are only concerned with having a good time with the somewhat disgusted women in the painting while they consume heavy amounts of tea, symbolizing their refinery and high social class status. Published in 1824, Edward Villiers Rippingille’s The Travellers’ Breakfast (Pettigrew, 77) illustrates members of the literary circle that idealized Sir Charles Elton, including Coleridge, Southey, and Dorothy and William Wordsworth, as they have breakfast in an inn, with the tea urn focused in the middle of the table. According to Mrs.Beeton in the 1879 edition of her Book of Household Management, â€Å"’At Home’ teas and ‘Tea Receptions’ were large afternoon events for up to two hundred guests. Tea was laid out on a large table in the corner of the drawing or dining room, and servants would be on hand to pour and hand round the cups of tea, sugar, cream or milk, cakes, and bread and butter,† (Pettigrew, 107). Beeton reinforces the notion that these products were expected to be present at the tea table for afternoon tea with the upper classes. For the upper-classes, afternoon tea could be taken out to the garden.In an 1871 graphic artwork titled Kettledrum in Knightsbridge, (Pettigrew, 106) the artist displays men, women, and a child socializing in a garden, with trees and flowers surrounding them, while they enjoy their afternoon tea. According to Pettigrew, the caption reads â€Å"In this form of aft ernoon party, ladies and gentlemen can mingle . . . it is certainly much better to talk scandal in the garden than indoors,† (Pettigrew, 107). From this context, Pettigrew hints that scandalous gossip was common in between people in the upper classes during afternoon tea, and that it was better to gossip outdoors rather than indoors.While the etiquette and customs of low tea can be reflected in the mannerisms of upper class breakfast with tea, â€Å"In 1884, Marie Bayard advised in Hints on Etiquette that ‘the proper time . . . is from four to seven’, whereas others advised ‘about five’, or referred to ‘small 5 o’clock teas’, (Pettigrew, 108). Staying true to the specific hours with afternoon tea was significant to the upper classes in order to preserve the expectations that came with afternoon low tea. â€Å"Guests were not expected to stay for the entire time that tea was going on, but to come and go as they pleased during the allotted hours.Most stayed half an hour or an hour but ‘should on no account stay later than seven o’clock’, (Pettigrew, 108). The relationships between upper-class families and servants were distinguished with tea. â€Å"Families who employed servants very often took high tea on Sunday in order to allow the maids and butler time to go to church and not worry about cooking an evening meal for the family,† (Pettigrew, 112). Tea was so relevant during the 19th century that Pettigrew notes how upper-class families would rarely take a break from it.On Sundays, instead of eliminating tea from the day entirely, upper-class families would substitute their afternoon tea for high tea, which included heavier foods to replace dinner, all for the sake of allowing their maids and servants go to church. Servants of the Queen reference her liking of tea in the 19th century as well. â€Å"In London, Queen Victoria introduced afternoon receptions at Buckingham Palace in 1 865 and garden parties, known as ‘breakfasts’ in 1868,† (Pettigrew, 115). One of Her Majesty’s Servants† is quoted in The Private Life of the Queen (1897), â€Å"Her Majesty has a strong weakness for afternoon tea. From her early days in Scotland, when Brown and the other gillies used to boil the kettle in a sheltered corner of the moors while Her Majesty and the young Princesses sketched, the refreshing cup of tea has ever ranked high in the Royal favour. † Various forms of artwork captured the ritual of tea-time during 19th century England.A photograph from the 1880s presents a clear black-and-white image of what tea time looked like for the wealthy; in this particular case, for the Prince and Princess of Wales as they socialize with the Rothschild family at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, (Pettigrew, 114). In the photo, we see a garden tea party taking place, both men and women well-dressed, all sitting down in a straight posture except for the single servant, the tea table set with the tea urn in the middle, a tent set up, and even an umbrella placed at an angle to prevent any discomfort from the sun.While consuming tea was popular in the 19th century, the art and strategy of selling it as a valuable commodity grew in trend. Advertisements in the 19th century for tea advocated certain product brands, claiming that that specific brand was better than the rest, even hinting that they were a brand for more sophisticated, upper-class tea drinkers. An advertisement for Lipton, Tea, Coffee and Provision Dealer (Fromer, 84) attempts to differentiate regular tea drinkers from Lipton tea drinkers: â€Å"On the left, an illustration depicts two women smiling as they drink their tea.Their features are smooth and regular, their cheeks are pleasingly plump, and they wear bonnets over their fashionably curled hair. Their dresses indicate their middle-class wealth and fashion sense; they wear modest, high-necked gowns without e xcess frills or ornaments, yet the designs of their dresses reveal up-to-date fashion, with curving bodices, bustles, and narrow waists,† (Fromer, 83). In the advertisement, the choice to drink other tea besides the Lipton brand is reflected on their mis-shaped bodies, poor etiquette, and disappointing behavior. Tea and its consumption reinforced social class boundaries in 19th century England.In Mary Gaskell’s North and South (1855), tea consumption serves as a statement of people’s social class and their standards. â€Å"Throughout the changes in the Hales’ financial and social status throughout the novel, their tea drinking continues unabated, and despite the economies that they are forced to observe after Mr. Hale gives up his living, they never mention giving up tea,† (Fromer, 132). Fromer comments on Gaskell’s North and South (1855), marking how tea for upper-class citizens, such as the Hales, it too valuable in social status worth to s acrifice.Fromer continues â€Å"†¦their [the Hales] identity within the industrial town of Milton derives from their consumption patterns, their participation in the market economy of the city, the amount of money they have to spend, and the ways in which they spend it. † Mr. Hale is caught off guard and is petrified by Margaret’s story of a mill worker who has come to join them for tea. Margaret â€Å"Told [the story] completely; and her father was rather ‘taken aback’ by the idea of the drunken weaver awaiting him in his quiet study, with whom he was expected to drink tea,† (Gaskell, 285). â€Å"’Oh dear! A drunken infidel weaver! ’ said Mr.Hale to himself, in dismay,† (Gaskell, 286). Mr. Hale cannot handle the idea of having a low-class worker in his home, participating in his family’s afternoon tea. The very thought of it is inconceivable to him, especially seeing how Margaret invited the mill worker for tea. The working class was distinguished by having less etiquette and being not nearly as strict with their tea rituals as the middle and upper classes. Tea for the poor was still cherished, was still valuable, but as far as how refined they could be, based on their social class status alone, they constantly went through hard times on a daily basis. During the working day farm workers and labourers generally drank beer,† but in the 19th century, there was a drastic shift from beer being the common beverage workers drank throughout the day to tea. â€Å"All around the country, workers refreshed themselves with hot or cold tea – in factories, mines, offices and farmers’ fields, on railways, roads and fishing boats. Tea had become the best drink of the day,† (Pettigrew, 125). The poor and working class participated mostly in high tea, which was substituted for dinner. Meals throughout the day for the working class included tea. The first National Food Inquiry of 1863 discovered that little had changed for the working classes since the late eighteenth century and that farm labourers and home workers, such as silk weavers, needlewomen, glover makers and shoemakers, throughout Britain, started the day with a meager meal of milk or water gruel or porridge, bread and butter, and tea,† (Pettigrew, 98). Every day was a struggle for the lower classes. Many working class families started each day still hungry. They would be â€Å"sent off in the morning after a meager breakfast of potatoes and tea to walk several miles to their place of work.Lunch was dry bread with perhaps a little cheese in good times, and more potatoes and tea at home in the evening,† (Pettigrew, 124). While daily meal intakes were simply meant to fuel laborers to get through the day, tea was always considered a luxury, something that still connected them to the upper classes, regardless of how less refined their etiquette was. â€Å"Dickens’s stories are full of poor families, young apprentices, social outcasts, and those who survived from hand to mouth, just about coping in very mean lodgings that contrast markedly with the sumptuous breakfast tables of the upper and middle classes,† (Pettigrew, 99).In Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Mary Barton (1848), Gaskell conveys the thought-processing that went into listing what was needed for working-class meals and the importance of tea: â€Å"Run, Mary dear, first round the corner, and get some fresh eggs at Tippings . . . and see if he has any nice ham cut that he would let us have a pound of . . . and Mary, you must get a pennyworth of milk and a loaf of bread – mind you get it fresh and new – that’s all, Mary. † â€Å"No, it’s not all† said her husband. â€Å"Though must get sixpennyworth of rum to warm the tea . . . †A watercolor painting by Thomas Unwins (1782-1857) titled Living off the Fat of the Land, a Country Feast (Pettigrew, 111 ) illustrates â€Å"high tea in a country cottage,† with what is depicted as a lower class family eating hams, cheeses, and baked bread while drinking tea. The painting portrays many people filled in a small cottage having high tea in replacement of dinner, with children playing on the floor, vegetables fallen from a sack lying on the floor, cats and dogs sleeping and jumping around, a man sneezing close to the ham, a woman drinking her tea out of a saucer while tending to a child, etc. the whole illustration is a mess. While refined tea was mainly consumed by the upper classes, the working class still treasured tea as a luxury, its value and worth could be tasted even with just a little bit of sugar. â€Å"In 1853, the Edinburgh Review wrote: ‘By her fireside, in her humble cottage, the lonely widow sits; the kettle simmers over the ruddy embers, and the blackened tea-pot on the hot brick prepares her evening drink.Her crust is scanty, yet as she sips the warm beverag e – little sweetened, it may be, with the produce of the sugar-cane – genial thoughts awaken in her mind; her cottage grows less dark and lonely, and comfort seems to enliven the ill-furnished cabin,’† (Pettigrew, 111). In an 1878 photo of a poor Victorian household during tea time (Pettigrew, 104), the audience can make out the small room in which they are all in, laundry drying on a clothesline, with some of the children not even being able to sit at the table, just sitting on a bench close to it against the wall.This photo demonstrates the difference in tea etiquette between the upper and lower classes, especially with what looks like the eldest daughter caring for the youngest infant on her lap at the table, this being unlikely at an upper-class tea table. Tea was just as imperative as a daily commodity as it was to the upper classes. â€Å"The poor household, therefore, represented a scaled-down version of the middle-class home, suggesting that ninet eenth-century histories of tea portray class as a matter of degree rather than kind.Working-class families aspired to the same values as the middle classes, responding to their smaller incomes by taking further measures of economy but not by sacrificing the consumer commodities that had become necessary to English everyday life,† (Fromer, 79). Tea served as a revitalizing commodity for all, even the elderly. According to Day from the Edinburgh Review in Tea: Its Mystery and History (1878), â€Å"It is not surprising that the aged female whose earnings are barely sufficient to buy what are called the common necessaries of life, should yet spare a portion of her small gains in procuring the grateful indulgence.She can sustain her strength with less common food when she takes her Tea along with it; while she, at the same time, feels lighter in spirits, more cheerful, and fitter for this dull work of life, because of this little indulgence, (Day, 75-76). While the wealthy upper c lasses had standards and expectations with their consumption of tea, the lower classes, even the poor elderly, perceived tea as a great luxury of worth that altered their everyday behavior. â€Å"Tea affected her (the poor aged female’s) demeanor, her manner, and her cheer, enabling her to accept her burden and work harder, being ‘fitter’ for the dull work life,† (Fromer, 83).Tea time for the working class wasn’t meant to be a socializing event, nor was it a strict ritual. â€Å"Tea drinking, according to nineteenth-century ads and histories of tea, replaced the vices that were typically found among the ‘humbler classes,’ including alcoholism, violence, and a lack of attention to domestic arrangements, with the values of domestic economy, respectability, good taste, thrift, and an appreciation for high-quality consumer luxuries associated with more-fortunate, middle-class economic circumstances,† (Fromer, 87).Within Gaskellâ€⠄¢s North and South, we get glimpses of Margaret Hale’s life as a younger girl. â€Å"She remembered the dark, dim look of the London nursery. . . . She recollected the first tea up there – separate from her father and aunt, who were dining somewhere down below an infinite depth of stairs; . . . At home – before she came to live in Harley Street – her mother’s dressing-room had been her nursery; and, as they had her meals with her father and mother,† (Gaskell, 38).Gaskell emphasizes the difference in settings in Margaret Hale’s life, contrasting the less refined and luxurious life she had â€Å"before she came to live in Harley Street,† to her now higher social status in Harley Street. Gaskell hints this with how tea was consumed between the two settings. More than simply differentiating the social boundaries created by tea through certain tea rituals, the etiquette of tea drinking of both the lower and upper classes reinforced these social class boundaries in 19th century England.English upper class etiquette did not just distinguish them from the poor, but also from other countries as well. A cartoon published in 1825 (Pettigrew, 84) points out the difference in manners and etiquette between the English and the French. The cartoon refers to the English custom of placing a spoon across or inside the teacup to express that the drinker does not need a refill, though the audience can see that the English characters in the cartoon have been refilling the Frenchman’s teacup multiple times in a humorous manner. Certain rules and expectations went into tea-time with the upper classes. Invitations to tea were issued verbally or by a small informal note or card,† (Pettigrew, 108). Many aspects and variations went into tea etiquette that defined the upper classes. For how to receive guests into one’s home, the Lady at Home and Abroad (1898) explains that for small tea gatherings â€Å"the host ess receives her friends in the drawing room as on any other afternoon . . . but when it is a case of a regular afternoon entertainment, she stands at the head of the staircase and receives as she would at a ball or a wedding reception. Like Gaskell’s North and South, novels such as Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (1847) capture the norms and etiquette that come with upper class tea time and how those norms are broken and revealed through character reactions. â€Å"Within ‘Wuthering Heights,’ tea creates boundaries between characters, rather than erasing them. The rituals of the tea table cause Lockwood (and readers of the novel, to an extent) to feel isolated, unwanted, and threatened, rather than welcomed in and nourished as guests and as intimates,† (Fromer, 152-153).In a scene from Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the character named Lockwood, an upper-class male, seeks refuge from an early snowstorm in Wuthering Heights. Young Catherine hesi tatingly admits Lockwood into Wuthering Heights and he accepts it as an ideal setting for tea. While Catherine attempts to attain a canister of tea leaves almost out of reach, Lockwood makes a â€Å"motion to aid her† (Bronte, 16), but she responds, â€Å"I won’t want your help . . . I can get them for myself. † Bronte continues with Lockwood’s narration: â€Å"’I beg your pardon,’ I hastened to reply. Were you asked to tea? ’ she demanded, tying an apron over her neat black frock, and standing with a spoonful of the leaf poised over the pot. ‘I shall be glad to have a cup,’ I answered. ‘Were you asked? ’ she repeated. ‘No,’ I said, half smiling. ‘You are the proper person to ask me. ’ She flung the tea back, spoon and all; and resumed her chair in a pet, her forehead corrugated, and her red underlip pushed out, like a child’s, ready to cry,† (Bronte, 16-17). Bronte use s this scene to underscore a significant aspect of upper-class tea tiquette: again, â€Å"Invitations to tea were issued verbally or by a small informal note or card,† (Pettigrew, 108). While to present day audiences of Wuthering Heights, Catherine’s behavior may have seemed rude, to Bronte’s audience in the 19th century, Catherine’s response to Lockwood probably seemed understandable because according to upper-class tea etiquette, in order to engage and participate in tea-time with someone, he or she needs to be invited first. In another scene from Wuthering Heights, Catherine plays hostess during tea-time with characters Edgar and Heathcliff at Wuthering Heights. The meal hardly endured ten minutes. Catherine’s cup was never filled; she could neither eat nor drink. Edgar had made a slop in his saucer, and scarcely swallowed a mouthful,† (Bronte, 97-98). Here the audience can see the difference in etiquette between the higher and lower class es, even if the difference in class is not too vast. â€Å"Edgar’s ‘slop’ in his saucer signals his unsteady hand†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fromer, 162). â€Å"This moment of tea, which is supposed to bring people together and erase boundaries, instead emphasizes those boundaries and signals the end of peace and familial happiness,† (Fromer, 162-163).Again, Bronte distinguishes the class differences reinforced through the tea ritual and form of etiquette. Like Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (1847), 19th century novels such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) delineates social class boundaries reinforced by tea etiquette. The story of Alice adventuring into Wonderland is a reflection of facing elements people are not used to; for Alice, what she believed was her forte was etiquette. Carroll thus plays on the idea of expectations; he assumes that we as readers, like Alice, have certain expectations of what a tea party offers, an d he continually frustrates those expectations through his depiction of â€Å"A Mad Tea Party,† (Fromer, 169). During the infamous â€Å"Mad Tea Party† scene, Alice encounters the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the mouse at their tea party. Alice expects to be welcomed at the tea table, seeing how â€Å"the table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it . . . † (Carroll, 60).But as she approached the table, the Hare and the Mad Hatter cried out, â€Å"No room! No room! † (Carroll, 60). Both audiences of the 19th century and present day may have found the hosts to be incredibly rude exclaiming that there is no room while there obviously was, but, again, we must remember principle etiquette: that guests must be invited to tea. Both Bronte’s Lockwood and Carroll’s Alice encounter tea setting and expect to be invited; therefore, they approach the hosts and proceed to the tables, yet both characters are actual ly unwanted from both hosts in each novel.Lockwood and Alice are characterized as being of middle or upper class in their own storylines and they both invite themselves to these tea tables where they were never originally invited to; and when they are confronted about it, they both are shocked. â€Å"At any rate I’ll never go there again! . . . It’s the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life,† (Carroll, 68). Carroll reinforces Alice’s stubbornness an inability to realize that she was the one who violated the etiquette and customs of tea time by inviting herself to tea instead of waiting for an invitation from the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.The exchange between Alice and the Mad Hatter and March Hare exceeds levels of rudeness that audiences of both 19th century and present-day England would be appalled by. â€Å"I don’t think – † then the Hatter cuts her off, â€Å"Then you shouldn’t talk. † â€Å"This piec e of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off: the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her,† (Carroll, 67).While Alice storms off believing that the Mad Hatter and March Hare are in the wrong, Carroll’s use of depicting Alice looking back conveys that in her heart, perhaps Alice knew that she was the one who violate the proper mannerisms and etiquette of tea time. From Fromer’s perspective, â€Å"After feeling adrift and confused during her travels through Wonderland, Alice has finally stumbled upon a setting where she feels at home and thinks that she knows what to expect and how to act – at the tea table . . .She expects the boundaries that so clearly separate her from all of the other characters she has met to finally be overcome, so that she can feel welcomed and nourished as an intimate guest rather than an unexpected and unwelcome intruder,† (Fromer, 170-171). Tea rituals, customs, and etiquette distinguish people from one another, they sort them into groups labeled either poor or wealthy. â€Å"Teatime functions, in countless novels, as a moment of highlighting the boundaries between self and other, inside and outside, day and night – boundaries both within outside of the intimate realm . . Part of what makes this particular tea party ‘mad’ is the fact that it violates the boundaries of time just as much as it destroys expectation of hospitality and civility,† (Fromer, 172). Both Alice and Bronte’s Lockwood assume that simply by being part of the upper classes of society that they are entitled to respect from others; but as Gaskell’s and Carroll’s audiences have realized, having respect for others defines social status and influences social mannerisms and proper etiquette. Within Gaskell’s North and South (1854-55), the image of the tea table functions as a crystallization of English national identity and the various social classes that make up that national sense of self,† (Fromer, 129). Fromer analyzes North and South as a novel that distinguishes the different social classes in 19th century England and how their social statuses are formed and reinforced by through tea rituals and etiquette.Furthermore, â€Å"based on circulating cultural expectations of the social manners and consumption rituals performed during teatime, the English ideal of the tea table served as shared experience upon which to base one’s identity and to gauge the social status of others,† (Fromer, 129). â€Å"Tea, as a fluid constant in English culture, with its accompanying social rituals, was flexible enough to accommodate – and to mark – subtle differences in social status, to mediate these differences between groups within the English nation,† (Fromer , 12).Members of both the lower and upper classes participated in tea rituals; depending on their social class statuses, they were more than likely to participate in one or the other. Quite simply, the middle and upper-class members of societies engaged in afternoon low tea the majority of the time because of its origin to English royalty and the purpose to keep hunger away between noon and dinner meals. On the other end, the poor and working class members of society engaged in high tea, combining their dinner meal with tea in order to alleviate the time and costs of tea time in the middle of the afternoon.The working class did not concern themselves with strict and traditional customs and etiquette like the middle and upper classes did. They participated in high tea for the practical purpose of fighting off hunger while retaining a sense of dignity and luxury with the value and worth of tea. As put by Fromer (11): â€Å"Nineteenth century representations of tea highlight the role of the tea table in forging a unified English national identity out of disparate social groups, economic classes, and genders separated by ideologically distinct spheres of daily life. Bibliography Bayard, Marie. Hints on Etiquette. Edited by Marie Bayard. London: Weldon & Company, 1884. Beeton, Mrs. Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management. Edited by Nicola Humble. Abridged version of 1861 edition. NewYork: Oxford University Press, 2000. Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York. Penguin Books, 1993. Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Day, Samuel Phillips.Tea: Its Mystery and History. London: Digital Text Publishing Company, 2010. Fromer, Julie E. A Necessary Luxury: Tea in Victorian England. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2008. Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton & North and South. Edited by Edgar Wright. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. â€Å"One of Her Majesty’s Ser vants. The Private Life of the Queen. Edited by Emily Sheffield. Gresham Books, 1979. Pettigrew, Jane. A Social History of Tea. London: National Trust Enterprises, 2001.

Eiichiro Oda

EIICHIRO ODA was born January 1, 1975 in the city of Kumamoto (in the prefecture of Kumamoto). He decided to pursue a career as a a manga artist at the age of 4 (because they didn't have to work in companies as adults). Unlike many youth who give up this dream, he kept nurturing it as he grew up; and at age 17, he received a Silver Honors (â€Å"jun-nyuusen†), the second highest honor available (that's why I translitersated â€Å"jun†, which usually means â€Å"sub†, as â€Å"silver†) from the 44th semi-annual Tezuka Awards (a â€Å"story† manga artist scouting contest co-hosted by the editorial staffs of Weekly Jump and Monthly Jump, this is the contest that many other familiar Weekly Jump faces, such as Yoshihiro Togashi, Hiroyuki Takei, Daisuke Higuchi, Takeshi Obata, Masanori Morita, Ryu Fujisaki, and even Masakazu Katsura got their big breaks) with his short story, WANTED!. His pen-name back then was â€Å"Getsu ka sui moku kin do†, i. e. â€Å"Moon Fire Water Wood Gold Earth†, or more commonly, â€Å"Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat†. ) His first work as a pro was Kami Kara Mirai no Present (A Gift of the Future from God), published in the October 1993 issue of Jump Original (Monthly Jump's bimonthly spinoff). His talent was further noticed by the Weekly Jump staff when he got Gold Honors (â€Å"nyuusen†, i. e. he top honors much like a gold medal, which explains the transliteration once again) in the Hop-Step Awards (WJ's monthly talent scout contest, now called the Tenkaichi Manga Awards) in 1993 with his work Ikki Yakou (One Devil's Night Trip). In 1994, he decided to leave college after the end of his freshman year to head out to Tokyo, and there, he studied as an assistant for three Jump authors: Shinobu Kaitani (Midoriyama Police Gang), Masaya Tokuhiro (Jungle no Ouja Tar-chan and Mizu no Tomodachi Kapparman), and Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin). During his apprenticehood, Mr. Oda published two short stories: Monsters in the 1994 Autumn Special (the seasonal spinoff magazine created by the Weekly Jump staff, now called Akamaru Jump) and the first of the two versions of Romance Dawn in the 1996 Summer Special. A few months later, he broke into the pages of Weekly Jump with the second incarnation of Romance Dawn, published in issue #41 of 1996. And as with any other short story that does well in Jump, the series ONE PIECE (yeah, the one that you're reading this website for) started in #34 of 1997†¦ and the rest is history. =)

A Significant Person Essay

Significant Person Mother Teresa is one of the most admired women in the world. She dedicated every day of her adult life to caring for and loving the dying, the unwanted and the unloved. Her spirit of giving inspired many people. There were those who gave up their lives as she had to follow her and others who helped in different ways, for example, giving her the Kali Temple to be used as a home for the dying. The effect Mother Teresa had on the people she came in contact with and the world is one of the most intriguing things about her. But what was it about Mother Teresa that made people stop and listen? How did such a tiny women touch the hearts and lives of so many people? Mother Teresa’s dedication to God and the church is what I feel made her so great. Everything she did in her life was for God. One of the first instances that made me really stop for a second was Mother Teresa’s second calling. It was not the calling itself so much as how she handled herself in the following events. She was so dedicated to the church and her vows that she waited two years before she was able to be released from her vows to go off into the world to serve the poorest of the poor. She went through all the proper and necessary steps in the church to get what she believed was her calling. Mother Teresa did not leave the church for selfish reasons, nor did she just get up and leave one day. She had too much respect and devotion to the church to be able to do something like that. Mother Teresa put all her faith into God and believed that he would provide her with what she needed. All throughout her years on the streets of Calcutta, Mother Teresa never asked for money. She knew that all she needed was her faith. For me, I find that aspect of her remarkable. How someone can have so much faith that they would go out with nothing but 5 rupees amazes me. And the best part of the whole story is that God does come through and provide her with everything she needs. She called it â€Å"divine providence† because she never asked, however things like money, helpers and buildings became available to her. In her interview with Muggeridge she said, â€Å"Faith is a gift of God. Without it there would be no life. And our work, to be fruitful and to be all for God, and beautiful, has to be built on faith. † Her faith is why she always began each day with prayers, meditation and Mass. I see this as her time to be one on one with God and receive the strength she needed to serve the Lord each day. Many people go to church each week, however never truly experience God the way Mother Teresa did. She was truly able to see him in everything she did and everyone she came into contact with. While I personally would have a hard time seeing Christ in people I come into contact with, Mother Teresa did. I have never been a very religious person, but reading and learning about Mother Teresa’s life and accomplishments makes a total believer out of me that there is something greater and if we just have faith things will work out. With gods help, one small woman, in a simple white cotton sari, who did not bother with reports and theories, simply went out into the world and changed the lives of millions.

Explore the issues of community cohesion, community exclusion and Essay

Explore the issues of community cohesion, community exclusion and marginalisation with specfic reference of young people - Essay Example and Lowe, G, 1999, P. 9) Social change in sociological context involves the alteration of mechanism within the social structure and is characterized by changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior, social organization or values. (Form, William, 2011) To explain social change in society, sociologists have borrowed various models of social change from other disciplines. Among the first model was the concept of evolution which was used initially to understand biological change and idea of social change. Other sociological model such as structural functionalism came later to shed more light on the issue of social change. This theory explains on the existence of certain basic institution such as kinship relations and division of labor which often determine social behavior in the community. This is owed to their nature of interrelatedness as change in one institution affects other institutions. According to an article entitled ‘social change’ by Form, the various theoretical schools emphasizes in different aspects of change. Marxist theorist for example, suggests that changes in models of production can lead to changes in modes of production can lead to changes in class systems. This can either incite new forms of change or class conflict. Other theorists inclined to conflict the model, emphasizes on conflict an element which is inevitable in every society, which brings about changes that promote social integration. Social change in society can emanate from various societies. The causes of social change affect every aspect of the society in the world. On macro scale, they shape all major institution including economics, politics, religion, family, education, science and technology, military and legal system. On the micro level of society, they shape society’s values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. (people.uncw.edu, 2011). Major social changes in community include; (a) Technological and economic changes such as agricultural advancement (b) Ind ustrialization- The process of moving from an agrarian based economy in which the primary products is food to an industrial or post industrial economy in which primary product is goods. Also the process of changing from a manual labour force to a technology driven lobour force in which machines play a great role. c) Modernization: The process of moving from an agrarian to industrial society. Characteristics of modern societies include,  larger role of government in society and bureaucracy to run government, Large, formal organizations and division of labor based on specialization of skills and abilities into occupation,  forming of social institutions to regulate behavior,  laws and sanctions to regulate behavior, Control over and management of environmental resources: oil, water, land, animals,  larger role of science in society to produce knowledge to advance society, larger role of education and universities, improved quality of life, ability to buy good and services, mor e recreational time, better public health, housing   and self-efficacy   d) Urbanization where large populations live in urban areas rather than rural areas. Usually results from economic opportunities, either people move to a city for jobs, or rural areas become the sites of large businesses which leads to population growth.

Mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients Research Paper

Mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients - Research Paper Example As a result, several Acts to support mandatory drug testing were introduced in order to reduce drug abuse by social welfare recipients. This paper will examine the issue of mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients and further explain why the testing policy is not effective. To start with, the social welfare programs were initiated based on the values and beliefs held by the American society. According to Segal, religious and social beliefs held by the American people championed the need for social welfare system (10). For example, popular religions in the period of 1930s included protestant Christians who believed on biblical teachings that society members should support each other. However, Segal points out that evolution of both social and religious beliefs has not been smooth and the current policies governing the social welfare represent the conflicting values and beliefs (11). For instance, introduction of mandatory drug testing to the social welfare beneficiaries is good from a social perspective because it is aimed to better the social status of the recipients. However, mandatory drug testing does not sound good on religious point of view because most religions have a view that the needy people in the society should be helped without conditions. Surprisingly, mandatory drug testing has gained popularity in several states of U.S since the introduction of Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996 that aimed to improve the intended goals of social welfare programs. Several states in the U.S saw the importance of increasing the productivity and responsibility of citizens receiving social welfare support and hence introduced the legislation of mandatory drug testing. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), â€Å"in 2009, over 20 states proposed legislation that would require drug testing† as a basis to determine eligibility for the benefits from social welfare programs (1).This was

Richard Branson and the Virgin Group Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Richard Branson and the Virgin Group - Coursework Example The group’s activities span such disparate lines of business as music, airlines, rail transport, movie industry, financial services, telecommunications, soft drinks, space travel, tourism, health services and much more. As can be expected, some of the ventures did not live up to the expectations, inviting criticism of the limits to which a brand’s power can be stretched by reckless and unrelated diversification. At the same time, the unique leadership that Branson provides with commonsense approach, changing corporate and functional strategies continuously, laying focus on corporate governance, customer satisfaction and employee-motivation belie the flamboyant extrovert who exploits every opportunity to enhance Virgin’s brand power for success of the various ventures under its umbrella. The case study explores the story of an entrepreneur who dares to challenge established notions of limits of brand dilution, diversification into unrelated areas, value of commons ense in business, and informality in organizational/communication matters. Talking to the Forbes magazine on 1 February 1997, Branson said, â€Å"If you can run one company, you can run any company. You can learn the nuances of a particular industry in two months. And it is so great being in so many different businesses. That is the fun of it† (Anon., n.d., coursework.info). The last part is a give away (the fun and enjoyment of being in business) for the Branson persona. Occasional failure or short-on-performance does not dilute Branson’s vision for making Virgin as one of the world’s leading brands. Failures While the Virgin Record Company and related businesses were highly successful, Branson’s move into the highly competitive airlines industry and challenging the major established players with cheap travel plans was not so successful. In fact, in the early 1990s, Branson had to sell off his first love, the music company, in order to support the falter ing Virgin Atlantic Airways, which faced intense competition from the British Airways, the dominant player. Although Virgin Atlantic Airways started off well since its inception in 1984 and went public in 1986, the stock market crash of 1987 led to crash of its share prices forcing Branson to buy back the public stock and turn it into a private firm once again (Anon., n.d., coursework.info). The Virgin Group’s cable company NTL planned acquisition of a stake in the media and entertainment business which was dominated by Rupert Murdoch, by acquiring nearly 20% stake in the company ITV (Barr, 2006; Clothier, CNN, 2006). These plans were thwarted by Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB, who outbid NTL. This episode exposed Branson’s inability to accept defeat in grace. Another criticism of the Virgin Group has been its inability to fully integrate local cultural nuances into its management policies and branded products. In order to overcome this situation, Branson brought in a w ell-known marketing specialist Ashley Stockwell, as Virgin’s Brand Marketing Director (Anon., n.d., coursework.info). Branson’s foray into the movie industry with the acquisition of MGM in 1995 was again a failure, which he readily accepted and described it as a premature decision (Anon., n.d., coursework.info). Reasons for success Branson’

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Marketing plan - Essay Example Second part discusses the international marketing plan and third is the recommendation. Nestle SA is a multinational company that has been successful in holding business in many parts of the world. As a matter of expansion, it is planning to enter a new territory. How they will enter the territory and its marketing strategies will be discussed in this paper. Nestle SA is the holding company of Nestle Group that is based in Switzerland. It was founded by Henri Nestle whose name is retained as company’s name. Its main activities are the development and production of food and beverages. Nestle Group manages the food and beverage activities in three geographical areas (Europe, America and Asia, Oceania and Africa), and globally for Nestle Water, Nestle Nutrition, and other food and beverages). As of 2012, company has employed 328,000 people worldwide and earned CHF 92.2 billion. (Reuters. 2015). Top 3 competitors to Nestle are Mars, Inc., Danone and Mondelez, International, Inc. Company mission of â€Å"Good food, good life† is to provide consumers with the best tasting, most nutritious choices in a wide range of food and beverage categories and eating occasions, from morning to night.†(Reuters. 2015) Discussion about relevant historical developments of India, in this paper, starts in the 19th wherein it was reigned by Great Britain. It was granted independence in 1947 after years of non-violent resistance was staged by its leader Gandhi. Earlier years were not peaceful, since after gaining independence, it was disturbed by three wars with neighboring countries, and the last one was in 1971 that resulted to the separation of Pakistan and India. There were nuclear threats in 1988 and a terrorists attack in Mumbai on the same year. (CIA Worldfactbook, 2015). Country remained calm after this. India’s growth started in 1991 after a series of economic

The Geopolitical and Strategic Importance of the Persian Gulf In Essay - 1

The Geopolitical and Strategic Importance of the Persian Gulf In Relation To Contemporary International Affairs in the Region - Essay Example However, the growth of this reason has resulted in both positive and negative effects. Negative impacts can clearly depict the several conflicts affecting the region that is frequently ignited by outside power (Nyrop, 2008). The August 2, 1990, Iraq invasion of Kuwait, is an example of such wars. The US intervened arguing that it was liberating Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. The U.S. sought convinced about 35 nations to support the move to liberate Kuwait through military action. The Persian Gulf War led to an increased rivalry between countries in the region. The conflicts are often ignited by the fight for a resource such as water and resources such as oil. The frequent conflict has become of great concern in the international affairs (Ungerman, 2000; Darvishi & Javilvand, 2010). The Persian Gulf is of great geopolitical and strategic importance due to its role in supplying most of the world’s resources. Natural resources such as water and energy are increasingly becoming scarce. Therefore regions such as the Persian Gulf, which supplies most of the energy to the world due to its great oil and gas resources are expected to continue being of great importance to the international affairs. Therefore, the Persian region is expected to continue being politically important due to its great role as an energy supplier. Moreover, the fight for energy is responsible for most of the past conflicts over energy (Darvishi & Javilvand, 2010; Ungerman, 2000) Therefore, the region is expected to continue being significant in the international affairs since tension is expected to continue growing since the energy requirement across the globe is increasing and countries such as China are expected to require about 5 million barrels per day b 2015. Since the oil will be derived from the region, Asian countries are likely to be characterized by increased interstate conflicts and weapon proliferation.

Convince school to take specific measurements to improve students Essay

Convince school to take specific measurements to improve students health and fitness - Essay Example The school also needs to watch out for the impacts that the programs has on the students. If the student do not take to the program implemented, they are likely not to participate hence the inevitable failure of the program. Nutrition and physical fitness is important for students because it offers many great benefits such as improved self esteem and confidence, improved performance in class and a general improvement in the physical health of the students (Jackson 56). If the students are in good shape, it reflects in their general self esteem. For teenagers, what others think is more important to them that what they think about themselves. Kids can be cruel in high school as is well known by all. They are bound to make fun of a fellow kid if they were seen as unhealthy and unfit. If the students are physically fit, it instills some form of confidence in them and makes them feel like they are actually worthy. This is a decision made based on their mastery of skills and the aspects of the physical programs. This in turn makes the student more aggressive, have more self-control, be more independent and have more confidence. In addition, physical fitness among the students will reflect in other areas of the curriculum. The students are bound to perform better in class and this benefit them and the school as well. Every management wants the society to see them succeeding and therefore, good student performance reflects well on the managements performance (Jackson, 43). Physical exercise has always been known to be a way through which one can relieve stress. Engaging in physical exercise does not only improve the physical health of the students, but also can be a way for the children to rid themselves of any form of tension and anxiety that they may be experiencing. Consequently, this will improve the student’s emotional stability and resilience. The programs set up for improved physical health can be an

Men vs women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Men vs women - Essay Example Irrespective of their race, religion & class women were not seen as women in the society in the beginning of this century.The woman, often conceived and the childbirth have become dangerous. There was no birth control system in yester-years. They did not follow any contraceptive methods, as the same were not available or discovered. The system of divorce was so complexes and was not within the reach of the poor in yesteryears. The women were not encouraged to learn education. The abortion was treated as an unlawful thing.They did not follow any contraceptive methods, as the same were not available or discovered. The system of divorce was so complexes and was not within the reach of the poor in yesteryears.The women were not encouraged to learn education. The involvement of women workforce were a little below half of the British work force and that of women in USA, they were above half of workforce in recent days. During this century, the life styles of women have changed vastly. The activities of women have brought an important role in transformation of women. Many workingwomen have reached pinnacles in their selective fields. They have become champions in the fields of educational institutions, science and technology. Now the women are more economically stronger and independent than a century ago.The women are not involved in union activities.Now the women in UK & USA can exercise their franchise not like in olden days. Now the women are well educated and participated in national politics. The women were first employed in jobs during the currency of First World War. After the First World War, the services rendered by the woman were forgotten, as they did not enter into domestic service. The start of industries gave some opportunities to women to get good jobs with good returns. The involvement of women in second world war and the role played by them brought changes in awareness and consciousness within the women and the in the society too. The politicians thou ght of safeguarding the interests of women at their respective work place. The women desired to stick to their jobs by showing their individuality but some women wanted to come back to their domestic service. The work force of woman has largely increased in the year 1940 when compared to the work force of women in the year1939. After Second World War the need of education in higher education and technology has been increased for women after 1960, the entire world wanted to bring a change in inequality irrespective of their class, race and religion. The history of the women is the product of time of century old women. It is the growth of the women for the last 25 years, which focused on their memories, testimonies and pointing out women's experience. After events of revolution in 1968, the socialist feminism is possible once again the world, liberation of women in capitalism. At the end of 1960, the emergence of feminist framework and civil rights movement could be seen. In 1980s Thatcher and Reagan have elaborated the same. In both the countries of USA and Britain have contrasts of class, race, ethnicity, along with region, age and disability. The books did not carry a definite socialist analysis of the history of women in 20th centuries. The working class woman has not transformed the liberation of women forward. In 20th century, the women have achieved, in many nations, the right to vote, increased their changes in educational and job opportunities. Women used to feel wifehood and motherhood were most important events in the ir career. History shows that women is creative source of human life, women are always treated as inferior to men, since olden days. The attitude towards women was favorable in the east. In USA, the women were felt weaker than men as they couldn't do hard work which requires muscle power. In women, the Americans found lack of intellectual development. The women were allowed to attend domestic works such as caring of children, cooking cleaning of house and washing clothes. It was felt that women's main role in the society was to give birth to children. In the present scenario, because of major publicity to follow contraceptive methods control over number children besides legalisations

Consumer Personality Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Consumer Personality Theories - Essay Example Horney classified individuals, on the context of child-parent relationship, as either:- Compliant Personality - one who desires to be loved, wanted, and appreciated by others. Aggressive Personality - one who moves against or competes with others, desires to excel and win admiration. Detached Personality - one who seeks emotional & behavioural freedom from others, desires independence, self-sufficiency and freedom from obligations. Cohen's Extension Study - In further extending Horney's classification, Cohen posited the relationship between the 3 orientations and consumer behavior. In the study, Cohen implemented a CAD scale (a Likert-type instrument of thirty-five items) measuring 15 items based on product usage, brand usage, and media preferences (Berkman and Gilson). Cohen's Hypothesis - Cohen propounded that consumers can be classified into:- Compliant - likely inclined to respond favorably to products enhancing social relations Aggressive - inclined towards products associated with status and successful images Detached - inclined towards products appealing to their independent nature 2.C. Trait Theory Trait theory proposes the use of traits - Allport defines traits as the attributes that make a person functional and identify the given person (Berkman and Gilson) - as the factors that construct personality and by which behavior is influenced. Berkman and Gilson indicated that there is no consensus as to a set of traits applicable to all individuals. The three assumptions of this theory: a. Assumes that individuals possess relatively stable behavioral tendencies b. People differ in... Social-psychological theorists assert that social factors ought to be considered the key determinants of personality (Engel and Blackwell). Karen Horney, a proponent of the social-psychological theory, further developed the theory through her taxonomy of personality orientation. Horney classified individuals, on the context of child-parent relationship, as either:- Cohen's Extension Study - In further extending Horney's classification, Cohen posited the relationship between the 3 orientations and consumer behavior. In the study, Cohen implemented a CAD scale (a Likert-type instrument of thirty-five items) measuring 15 items based on product usage, brand usage, and media preferences (Berkman and Gilson). Trait theory proposes the use of traits - Allport defines traits as the attributes that make a person functional and identify the given person (Berkman and Gilson) - as the factors that construct personality and by which behavior is influenced. Berkman and Gilson indicated that there is no consensus as to a set of traits applicable to all individuals. The three assumptions of this theory: With the adoption of the Big Five factor model of personality in recent years, congruity in regards to a set of common t

Social injustice Essay Example for Free

Social injustice Essay We’ve all applied to a job and didn’t get it. Did you ever think to yourself it was some type of discrimination? Social and racial discriminations happen all the time in the workplace. You may be turned down from a job because of your race, social status, or even your gender. Many times in the workplace people are deemed unfit for the position, but why? Why should it matter if you’re a female or male for certain jobs positions? Who says a male cant preform the job to potential as a female or visa versa? If you walk into a Claire’s, per say, it will be all women working there and I’m sure when males walk in they feel discriminated to ask for an application because all they see is females working in there; It’s a double standard contraception. However, it’s how society implies how or what kind of roles the male or female should contribute to the work environment. I for one have thought of applying for a certain job that society would not †expect† a young man to partake in, so sadly knowing I would have fulfilled the job exceptionally suitable did not take it because I cared about what other people thought of. Race is one of the biggest struggles for many perfectly applicable people who would fulfill the desired job they want to apply for. One of the most sensitive subjects that have been around for decades would be peoples race. I have two close friends, whom are extremely hard working, book smart, and have great social skills who applied for a high end job down south after college. They were turned down =, and for what? What color they were? This is one of the biggest disappointments our society still has to deal with to this day. Perfectly adequate young men or women could perform any job they believe and work hard for and they should NEVER be turned down for their race. Because who would know if that certain raced man or woman would have executed that job better than lets say the white raced man or woman? The way people look is another example of a high social injustice situation. The â€Å" benefit of the doubt† is the proper mindset of what every interviewer should have. Say a man comes into an interview with tattoos and wearing jeans and a dirty button up, yes, they look like they don’t care but that’s all they can afford to look like until they are hired and get a job. Vs. a man who comes in tight suit, brief case and put together. The man with the tattoos is a hard workingman and has all the exceptional social skills they need to fulfill the job, and the man in the suit is only book smart and has no patience to work with people. The interviewer picks the man with the suit because he looks more †suitable† for the job. That is not acceptable. The other man would no doubt work extremely hard to make sure he executed his job to the highest standards. But what our society and the work place wants is who will be the fresh face that is the face for the company. The â€Å"benefit of the doubt† is dying in these kinds of situations because our society these days expects a certain kind of person to be dealing with customers and when doing so, look a †certain† way. I’m sorry but our society these days, is just not right. And we all need to start giving the benefit of the doubt and know what the real â€Å"face of the company is†. All these examples of Social Injustice are what real people are living through/with every day of their lives and its man vs. society when they deal with these situations. It’s just not right that there are people out there who think its acceptable to turn down adequate males or females who could perform a job better than people they hire whom they think they can. And if there is a day that it happens to myself I will stick up for myself and prove that person wrong because all the people who have been turned down know what they are capable of and its not fair they don’t get the chance to show what they can do.

Mise-en-scene, Psycho | Analysis

Mise-en-scene, Psycho | Analysis Mise-en-scene, psycho The mise-en-scene, a French term roughly translated as what is put into the scene (put before the camera), refers to all those properties of a cinematic image that exist independently of camera position, camera movement, and editing (although a viewer will see these different dimensions united in one image). Mise-en-scene includes lighting, costumes, sets, the quality of acting, and other shapes and characters in the scene. The Major reason that we tend to overlook or undervalue mise-en-scene in the movies is the powerful illusion of realism that is at the heart of the film medium (Corrigan, Timothy.45). Mise-en-scene usually involves some planning, but the filmaker may be open to unplanned events as well. An actor may add a line on the set, or an unexpected change in lighting may enhance a dramatic effect (Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin.156). Setting, costumes, lighting, and staging-these are the components of mise-en-scene. Yet one element seldom appears in isolation. Each usually combines with others to create a specific system in every film- (Bordwell, David.175). Mise-en-scene functions not in only isolated moments, but in relation to the narrative organization of the entire film (Bordwell, David.184). Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho (1960), a suspense horror film is one of the famous film which explores the conventional characteristics of film which are relevant to mise-en-scene. The film is encountered between two characters, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) a secretary and Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) the owner of the motel. Psycho starts with a title which is sliced up into halves from the middle, which depicts the split personality of Norman, who has been portrayed as psycho in the movie. The title is a reflection on his character. Psycho starts with showing the city of Phoenix, then the buildings and cars are shown from the top angle and then the camera pans to the window which is half closed , this also reflects the duality and shows that something suspicious is going to happen. Inside the room Marion is shown wearing a white underwear. In the next scene when she steals money from her employer and gets back home, she is then shown wearing a black underwear, which shows the difference b etween purity and evilness, because in white underwear she was shown pure, but after she steals the money, the black underwear signifies that she has done a crime and her sin has replaced her purity, and stealing money also shows an authority , as she got what she wanted and now she has control on things. And when she runs away from her home after stealing money, we see her wearing black dress, bag and shoes. Moreover her car was black as well portraying everything as evil. This beginning scene holds a grip on the audience which makes them stick to the screen. Psychos crucial and important scene is the murder of Marion in the shower, which is known as the Shower Scene. 77 camera angles are featured in this scene, and most of the shots are close ups and extreme close ups. When Marion enters the bathroom, everything is shown completely white, which shows purity, where as Marion is not pure so it signifies that she is taking a shower to clean all of her sins Then the scene starts continuing in different shots and camera angles which shows that something is about to happen, and then there is a silhouette shot of Marion which signifies that things are going to go on a darker side from white. The use of close shots is to make the scene feel longer and more subjective. There are some mediums shots, which are shot before and after the murder, the reason they are not shot between the murder is to show violence and to make the audience feel as they are seeing a murder in reality and while the murder is happening, the audience can feel the helplessne ss of Marion, and that she is in danger and needs help but there is not one to help her, so audience feel like going into the scene and help her out. Hitchcock is famous for using these kind of shots to make the audience go crazy and feel the reality and here comes the suspension of disbelief which makes the scene more interesting for the audience. The murder ends with a medium shot where blood is pouring into the drain of the tub which shows the end of Marions life. One of the other important scene is the parlor scene, when Marion is eating her sandwich the camera is placed on her eye level so the audience could feel that they are sitting with Marion and having a conversation with her, and for Norman the camera is low angled which shows that his life is out of balance, and something wrong is going on, because nobody is comfortable on viewing the world from such a position. Then the props and costume has played an important role in this scene, especially the eagle and other stuffed birds on the wall. This portrays the motel as a mad house, builds up frightening moment of the scene and signifies that something wrong is going to happen. Marions clothes are light in color, and her posture is very relaxed where as Norman is wearing dark clothes which portrays him as dominant, wicked evil man and it also shows that Marion will be soon victimized by the hands of Norman. The use of mise-en-scene in this scene is very effective as it previews what is goi ng happen next in the narrative. There are many things which are used as motif in Psycho with in the mise-en-scene. For example, the use of bathroom in the beginning, then the bathroom is shown twice and then the most important murder scene which also occurs in the bathroom. The use of close up shots of the eyes to show the emotions and the nature of the character that the audience could feel. These eye shots are the key shots of the film and nicely used as motif, and the eye with close up is a perfect way to show the goal for violence act. For example after the murder, when we see the blood draining into the drain of the tub, the drain transforms into the eye of the victim, who is lying dead on the bathroom floor. The shots of mirrors are also repeated couple of times to show the mirror image and the dual personality of the character. Birds have been used as a motif, be it stuffed birds in the parlor or the frames in the motel room, this signifies that Marion who came in the motel, she was not less than a stuffed b ird on wall or a frame, who could not fly back ever again, as she was murdered by the psycho man. Even when Norman was taking her dead body out of the room, the frame falls down, which shows the end of her life. The car was also used a motif, it was Morains death that was calling her into the motel and it was the car that took her into it. Then the use of low angle and high angle shots through out the course of the film as a motif to make audience feel comfortable and uncomfortable in different situations throughout the movie. Further looking towards the lighting in Psycho, Hitchcocks artistry in lighting and mise-en-scene created a world that is submerged with duality. For example, the parlor scene, where there is a small place, and it is occupied with a lot of stuff, just to show an uncomfortable situation between Marion and Norman, and there is only one source of light which is coming from the lamp, which is the key light in that whole frame. The way these characters are lit by only one source of light and the way they are positioned is done so well that their emotions are valid, and the audience can tell whats going on in the characters mind. For example, when Marion is sitting on a chair, on that time her face is very well lit, which doesnt hide her in shadows as she has stolen 40,000 dollars, but the high key lighting on her face shows that she is not on a darker and evil side, it creates softness and shows that shes having an intension of returning the stolen money. Where as Norman is not well lit in this scene, the back and fill lightening is very minimum because of which he is in shadows, which shows his dual personality and that he is hiding something. In the last scene, when Norman is shown in the jail, we see that he is clad in a black blanket portraying him as a villain and wicked facial expressions on his face shows the evilness of his character and that he is not guilty of what he did, infact he was a truly psycho man. The movie ends with the last scene where we see the car carrying Morains dead body emerging out of the water, which has been used as motif throughout the film. Overall, Hitchcock has done an amazing job with Psychos mise-en-scene with the mixture of camera angles, lightening and editing, and the use of these elements from the beginning till end, and the contribution of these all have added sense to the concept, as the use is justifiable and gain audiences interest. Stages of Decomposition: Effect of Time and Temperature Stages of Decomposition: Effect of Time and Temperature Chapter I INTRODUCTION Watson, can you determine cause and time of death? I knelt over the woman and began a cursory examination â€Å"Rigor mortis has set in, so Id estimate shes been dead about 10 to 12 hours. Holmes stood up and brushed himself off with his hands. So, that puts her death between midnight and 2 am†(Anonymous 2007). After the question of cause of death; the question of time of death is the most sought after piece of information associated with a medical death investigation. As a consequence, death investigators find themselves in need of a means of ascertaining the period of time between when an individuals body is found and when they died, sometimes referred to as the post mortem interval. Establishing the time of death through the determination of post mortem interval may have a direct bearing on the legal questions of guilt or innocence by confirming that a suspects alibi covers the period when the victim died, or demonstrating that it does not. If the time of death can be established to within hours, days, months or even years, an individual may be able to prove that they were at some other place at that time. On the other hand, if the suspect is known to have been in the vicinity of the victim during the appropriate time period, then they can be shown to have had an opportunity to commit th e crime. Currently, there are multiple techniques for determining post mortem interval that incorporate methods in almost every discipline of forensic science. Depending on the circumstances, these techniques can yield results that vary from a narrow accurate estimate (video of the victim, the victims stopped watch etc.) to a wide range estimate (counting tree rings on trees growing over or through the remains). Regardless of the of the method used, the calculation of post mortem interval is at best an estimate and should not be accepted as accurate without considering all of the factors that can potentially impact the result. Post Mortem Interval Estimation â€Å"For everything there is a season, And a time for every matter under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 The techniques currently utilized for estimating post mortem interval can be broken down into two broad categories based upon the methodology used. The first of these categories are the concurrence-based methodologies. Concurrence based methods relate or compare the occurrence of a known event, which took place at a known time, with the occurrence of death, which took place at an unknown time. Examples of concurrence-based methods include the determining the years of manufacture of clothing found on a body, tree ring development, dates on personal effects, etc. Concurrence based methods rely on both evidence associated with the body, and anamnestic evidence such as the deceaseds normal pattern of movements. The second grouping of techniques include rate of change methodologies. Rate of change-based methodologies measure some aspect of a evidence, directly associated with the body, that changes at a known or predictable rate and is started or stopped at the time of death. Examples of the rate of change based methods include body temperature, tissue decomposition, insect succession and bone weathering. Some of these methodologies can be considered to fall into both categories. Examples of these would be tree ring development (Coyle, Lee et al. 2005) and insect succession. Previous post mortem interval Estimation Methods The variety of approaches for estimating post mortem interval spring from the varied expertise and experiences of their proponents as such the different methods tend to be focused on the immediate needs of the investigator, and limited to a particular stage of the post mortem interval or type of observation. As a consequence, the period of time for which a procedure is effective will overlap others. Algor, Rigor and Liver Mortis â€Å"Tis after death that we measure men.† James Barron Hope The earliest recorded methods for estimating early post mortem interval were a rate of change methodology based on the most easily observed changes. The cooling of the body after death (algor mortis), the gradual stiffening of the body (rigor mortis) and the fixed pooling of the blood resulting in discoloration of the lower portions of the body (livor mortis) can be easily assessed with minimal or in some instances no instrumentation. Since the time of the ancient Greeks when the following rule of thumb was developed: Warm and not stiff: Not dead more than three hours; Warm and stiff: Dead between 3 and 8 hours; Cold and stiff: Dead between 8 and 36 hours; Cold and not stiff: Dead more than 36 hours; (Starkeby 2004) until modern times, the basis of most temperature based post mortem interval analyses is the assumption that the human body, which averages 98.2 oF +/- 1.3 oF (Mall and Eisenmenger 2005), was at 98.6 oF (Mackowiak, Wasserman et al. 1992) at death and that after death the body looses heat in a predictable manner. There have been many temperature based methods for estimating post mortem interval. As early as the 1800s, Dr. John Davy had developed a method using the fall in body temperature (algor mortis), measured rectally, to determine the post mortem interval (Henssge and Knight 2002). This method was refined by De Saram by recording detailed temperature measurements collected from executed prisoners (De Saram G. 1955). More recent approaches to this technique have included measuring rectal temperature, body surface temperature, ear canal temperature, eye socket temperature and liver temperature (Simonsen, Voigt et al. 1977; Henssge and Knight 1995; Baccino, De Saint Martin et al. 1996; Kanetake, Kanawaku et al. 2006). Improvements to these techniques have included multiple progressive sampling, and the introduction of concepts such as the initial temperature plateau, core temperature, heat gradients, the effects of insulation, the ratio of surface area to volume, the effects of humidity and the effect of conductive surfaces, Microclimates and postmortem skin cooling (Green and Wright 1985; Nokes, Flint et al. 1992; Nelson 2000). However, most methods that attempt to use body temperature changes to determine the post mortem interval are hampered, as most methods are, by individual variability. Even when complex calculations and algorithms have been designed to model for tissue density, initial temperature distribution, post mortem exothermic reactions and heat loss, these refinements have not appreciably narrowed the estimate window for post mortem interval. Multiple studies outlining instances of initial temperature increase of a body soon after death (Hutchins 1985) associated with post mortem chemical changes such as rigor mortis, cell lysis and the conversion of cellular energy production to anaerobic respiration (Nelson 2000); variations in the core body temperature ranging from 0.5 1.2  °C during a 24 hour period (Chisholm 1911; Mackowiak, Wasserman et al. 1992); the effect of variable environmental temperatures (Green and Wright 1985; Green and Wright 1985); and the effect of environmental temperatu re on overall body surface temperatures (Mall, Hubig et al. 2002) have all contributed to limit the usefulness temperature as a consistent indicator of post mortem interval. Additionally, once the body has reached ambient temperature temperature ceases to be a factor. Marshall said it best when he said ‘‘It would seem that the timing of death by means of temperature can never be more than an approximation(Henssge and Knight 1995). Soft and Hard Tissue Decomposition â€Å"Now, a corpse, poor thing, is an untouchable and the process of decay is, of all pieces of bad manners, the vulgarest imaginable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Aldous Huxley Cadaveric decomposition is a complex process that begins immediately following death and proceeds beyond the time when recognizable human remains have ceased to exist. Decomposition can be broken down into two major stages. The first stage, soft-tissue decomposition, is caused by autolysis and putrefaction. Autolysis is the digestion of tissue by cellular enzymes and digestive processes normally present in the organism. Putrefaction is the digestion of whole tissues systems caused by the enzymatic activity of fungi and bacteria that are either present in the organism or the environment that opportunistically invade the tissue. Both autolysis and the microorganisms responsible for putrefaction are normally held in check in living organisms. However, when an organism dies the cellular and systemic mechanisms responsible for regulating autolysis and inhibiting putrefying microorganisms stop. â€Å"Without these controlling processes the body becomes fancy (bacterial) culture media† (Carayannopoulos 1992). These early postmortem changes in soft tissues can be used to provide an estimate of the post mortem interval from death until skeletonization. However, the rate of soft tissue decomposition can be dramatically affected by both internal and external factors that affect the body (i.e. ambient temperature, cause of death, scavenging, trauma, environmental conditions, clothing, body size, mummification and adipocere formation) (Rodriguez and Bass 1985; Micozzi 1986; Mant 1987; Vass, Bass et al. 1992; Komar 1998; Campobasso, Di Vella et al. 2001). There are reported instances of rapid decomposition associated with acute illness (Frisch 2001) and the author is personally aware of an instance of a post mortem interval of less than eleven days resulting in complete skeletalization of an individual that died of complications related to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Watson 1994). Additionally, there are a number of examples of bodies remaining intact for year s after death (Bass and Jefferson 2003). Beyond gross observation for assessing decomposition, researchers have developed multiple morphometric and chemical methods for assessing soft tissue decomposition. These have ranged from early (ca.1800s) methods such as the Brouardel method which examined the shift in flammability of putrefaction gases in the early post-mortem interval, and the Westernhoffer-Rocha-Valverde method examining the formation of crystals in the blood formed after the third day of putrefaction (Cengage 2006); to more modern methods such as ultrasound assessments of organ condition (Uchigasaki, Oesterhelweg et al. 2004) and the use of electron microscopy to examine measurable physical changes in mitochondria (Munoz, de Almeida et al. 1999) and platelet count (Thomsen, Kaatsch et al. 1999). Chemical methods used to assess time since death include the assessment of volatile organic compound formation (Vass, Bass et al. 1992; Statheropoulos, Spiliopoulou et al. 2005; Statheropoulos, Agapiou et al. 2007; Dekeir sschieter, Verheggen et al. 2009); the concentrations of non-protein nitrogen (Sasaki, Tsunenari et al. 1983; Gallois-Montbrun, Barres et al. 1988) and creatinine (Gallois-Montbrun, Barres et al. 1988; Brion, Marc et al. 1991). Bony tissue decomposition, the second major stage of decomposition, consists of a combination of surface weathering due to environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, sunlight) and erosion from soil conditions (pH, mineral content, etc.) (Behrensmeyer 1978; Janjua and Rogers 2008). While not much detailed study has been done on the environmental factors that affect bony tissue breakdown, it has been established that environmental factors such as pH, oxygenation, hydrology and soil flora and fauna can affect the long term stability of collagen (Garlick 1969; Henderson 1987; Bell, Skinner et al. 1996). Collagen, the primary protenatious component of bone, slowly hydrolyzes to peptides and then to amino acids leading to the breakdown of the collagen-mineral bonds which weakens the overall bone structure leaving it more susceptible to environmental weathering (Henderson 1987). By examining the effects of related changes (cracking, flaking, vacuole formation, UV-fluorescence of compa ct bone) the investigator can estimate the period of time a bone sample has been exposed to weathering (Yoshino, Kimijima et al. 1991; Bell, Skinner et al. 1996; Janjua and Rogers 2008; Wieberg and Wescott 2008). Current methods of assessing time since death using bone weathering rely heavily upon the experience of the investigator (Knight and Lauder 1969) and are limited to immediately post skeletalization to 10 to 100 years based on environmental conditions (Haglund and Sorg 1997). As with the assessment of soft tissue decomposition for time since death, investigators examining bone decomposition have supplemented observational methods with quantifiable testing techniques that analyze changes that are not directly affected by the physical environment (Lundquist 1963). Radiocarbon dating of carbon-14 and strontium-90 have been used to group remains pre and post 1950 (Taylor, Suchey et al. 1989; Maclaughlin-Black, Herd et al. 1992). Neis suggested that, with further study of strontium-90 distributions, determination of times since death should be possible (Neis, Hille et al. 1999). Bradley suggested that measuring the distribution of 210Pb and 210Po in marrow and calcified bone could prove forensically significant (Bradley 1993). This work was built upon by Swift who evaluated using 210Pb and 210Po distribution in conjunction with trace element analysis to provide a meaningful estimate of the post-mortem interval (Swift 1998; Swift, Lauder et al. 2001). Maclaughl in demonstrated that chemical changes due to environment could measurably affect isotope levels (Maclaughlin-Black, Herd et al. 1992). In addition to radionucleotide studies, investigators have also measured the changes in both organic (amino acids, urea, proteins, DNA) and inorganic compounds (nitrogen, potassium, sulphur, phosphorous) in bone. (Jarvis 1997; Prieto-Castello, Hernandez del Rincon et al. 2007). Stomach Contents/Rate of Digestion â€Å"Govern well thy appetite, lest sin surprise thee, and her black attendant Death.† John Milton The presence or absence of food in the stomach is often used as an indicator of post mortem interval. Its use as an indicator of post mortem interval is predicated on the assumption that under normal circumstances, the stomach digests and empties at a predictable rate taking from two to six hours to eliminate a full meal (Jaffe 1989). If a person had eaten a light meal the stomach would empty in about 1.5-2 hours. For a medium-sized meal the stomach would be expected to take about three to four hours to empty. Finally, a large meal would take about four to six hours to exit the stomach. Regardless, it would take from six to eight hours for the initial portion of the meal to reach the large intestine (Hallcox 2007). This information, coupled with reliable ante-mortem information relating to when an individual last ate is used by some pathologists when providing an estimate of the times since death. It is for this reason, among others, that comprehensive autopsies usually include an ex amination of the stomach contents (Batten 1995; Siegel 2006). Although it provides another useful indicator of time since death, there are serious limitations to the assessment of the stomach contents as an accurate indicator of time since death. Its reliance on reliable anamnestic evidence such as eating habits, the extent to which the victim chews their food (Pera, Bucca et al. 2002), the physiological state of the victim (Troncon, Bennett et al. 1994; Jayaram, Bowen et al. 1997; Lipp, Schnedl et al. 1997; Phillips, Salman et al. 1997) and the state of mind of the victim (Jaffe 1989); as well as verifiable antemortem evidence such as what the last meal consisted of (protein vs. fiber vs. fat)(Dubois 1985; Tomlin, Brown et al. 1993), the amount of liquid consumed with the meal, alcohol consumption and the time when it was consumed limits its usefulness to a small number of cases (Jaffe 1989). These factors combined with evidence that digestion can continue after death (Koersve 1951) makes the estimation of post mortem interval using stomach co ntents difficult at best. Insect Succession â€Å"Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms.† Clint Eastwood from the Outlaw Josey Wales Insect colonization of a body begins within hours of death and proceeds until remains cease to be a viable insect food source. Throughout this period, multiple waves of colonization by different insect species, as well as multiple generations of previously established species can exist. Forensic entomologists can use the waves of succession and generation time to estimate the postmortem interval based on the variety and stage of development of the insects, or insect remnants, present on the body (Archer and Elgar 2003). In addition to information regarding time since death, forensic entomology can provide useful information about the conditions to which the body was exposed. Most insects have a preference for specific conditions and habitats when colonizing a body and laying their eggs. Modifications to that optimal habitat can interrupt the expected insect colonization and succession. The presence of insects or insect larva that would typically be found on bodies colonized indoors o r in shade on a body discovered outside in direct sunlight may indicate that the body was moved after death (Sharanowski, Walker et al. 2008). Aquatic insects found on bodies discovered on land could indicate the body was originally in water (Wallace, Merritt et al. 2008; Proctor 2009). Although insect succession varies by season, geographical location and local environmental conditions, it is commonly assumed to follow a predictable sequence within a defined habitat. While there are a multitude of studies that have examined regional succession patterns (Archer and Elgar 2003; Tabor, Brewster et al. 2004; Tabor, Fell et al. 2005; Martinez, Duque et al. 2007; Eberhardt and Elliot 2008; Sharanowski, Walker et al. 2008) these studies use different approaches towards defining habitat and assessing insect succession making cross-comparisons of their data difficult. Also, the majority of these studies do not rigorously address the statistical predictability of a species occurrence making their results of limited use as post mortem interval indicators (Michaud and Moreau 2009). Additionally, beyond the presence or absence of clothing, the majority of the post mortem entomological studies conducted do not examine non-habitat external factors that may affect succession. For example, only a few studies have been conducted that assess the affect of drug ingestion (George, Archer et al. 2009) or the presence of chemicals (bleach, lye, acid etc.) used to cover-up evidence (Charabidze, Bourel et al. 2009) on the insect life cycle. As with other means of assessing time since death, more extensive studies with different insect species and drugs in a wider variety of habitats is necessary. Electrolyte Concentration â€Å"Death is a low chemical trick played on everybody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  J.J. Furnas Cellular activity does not immediately cease when an organism dies. Rather, individual cells will continue to function at varying metabolic rates until the loss of oxygen and metabolic substrates caused by the cessation of blood flow results in hypoxia (low oxygen). As cell metabolism shifts from aerobic to anaerobic, oxidative phosphorylation and ATP generation, the cellular processes keeping autolysis in check, begin to decrease and eventually cease all together. Without energy to maintain osmotic gradients membranes begin to fail. As lysosomal membranes begin to fail the enzymes within are released and begin consuming the cell from the inside out. With autolysis comes a cascade of metabolic chemicals, released ions, originally bound up in various cellular processes begin to diffuse due to the diffusion gradient according to Ficks law into the intracellular spaces (Madea 2005). Forensic researchers have used the presence, absence or effects of inorganic ions such as potassium, phos phorous, calcium, sodium and chloride as a means of estimating time since death (Schleyer and Sellier 1958). In most instances the higher the concentration gradient, the more suitable is the analyte for the estimation of the time since death. When analyzing body fluids for the purposes estimating post mortem interval, early researchers tended to focus their studies on body fluids such as, cerebrospinal fluid, blood and pericardial fluid (Schleyer and Brehmer 1958; Coe 1972; Henssge and Knight 1995; Yadav, Deshpande et al. 2007) with a few others examining other compartmentalized bodily fluids (Madea, Kreuser et al. 2001) and the largest numbers focusing on vitrious humor (Madea, Henssge et al. 1989; Ferslew, Hagardorn et al. 1998; Madea and Rodig 2006; Kumagai, Nakayashiki et al. 2007; Thierauf, Musshoff et al. 2009). Chemical methods used to assess these analytes in blood and spinal fluid as an indicator of post mortem interval have failed to gain general acceptance because, for th e most part, they failed to produce precise, reliable, and rapid results as required by the forensic community (Lundquist 1963). Current chemical methods which have primarily focused on vitreous fluid tend to suffer from the same limitations demonstrated by the fact that with notable exceptions (Pounder 1995) very few statistically rigorous field studies on the reliability and precision of estimating post mortem interval are available in the literature (Coe 1993; Madea 2005). Enzyme Activity As previously discussed, cellular activity does not cease when clinical death occurs. In any circumstances where the cellular metabolism shifts from a homeostatic balanced state to an imbalanced state biochemical changes occur. Changes in the levels and/or activity of enzymes (i.e. cardiac troponin, c-reactive proteins, and G proteins) have long been used as indicators of cellular stress (Li, Greenwood et al. 1996; Katrukha, Bereznikova et al. 1998; Tsokos, Reichelt et al. 2001; Uhlin-Hansen 2001). Assessing similar changes in cellular biochemistry as a function of time since death provides investigators with a wide variety of tissues, testing methods and analytes for consideration. As a consequence, forensic investigators have assessed and suggested enzymes from heart, pancreas, muscle, blood and brain as potentially suitable markers for time since death (Wehner, Wehner et al. 1999; Wehner, Wehner et al. 2001; Kang, Kassam et al. 2003; Jia, Ekman et al. 2007; Poloz and ODay 2009). C omparisons of total proteins analyzed ante and post mortem analyzed using two dimensional gel electrophoresis and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight have demonstrated changes in metabolic enzymes, (Jia, Ekman et al. 2007; Hunsucker, Solomon et al. 2008). Assessing the changes in enzyme activity provides examiners a means to assess time since death, in many instances long before visible cellular changes. However, in at least a few of these studies results indicate that enzyme degradation during extraction and partial enzyme activity observed with degradation products these markers better suited to qualitative analysis rather than quantitative analysis (Sabucedo and Furton 2003). Muscle/Nerve Excitation Both neurons and myocytes retain the ability to respond to electrical stimulation for at least a short period of time after organism death. (Sugioka, Sawai et al. 1995; Briskey, Kastenchmidt et al. 2002; Sams 2002). The response of nervous and muscle tissue to external electric stimulation has also been investigated and proposed as means to estimate time since death (Kline and Bechtel 1990; Straton, Busuttil et al. 1992). Methods developed to investigate myocyte excitability assess the relative magnitude and duration of the muscle contraction during the application of external stimulation. To assess the contractile response, a combination of observational based assessments (Madea 1990; Jones, James et al. 1995) and measurement based assessments (Henssge, Lunkenheimer et al. 1984; Madea 1992) have been suggested and reported. Similar investigations have examined post mortem excitation of nervous tissue by measuring a variety of neurological reactions to stimuli. These include the alteration of Compound Muscle Action Potential (Nokes, Daniel et al. 1991; Elmas, Baslo et al. 2001; Elmas, Baslo et al. 2002), lengthen of the refractory or non-propagating period immediately following the CMAP (McDowall, Lenihan et al. 1998), the extracellular impedance/resistance (Querido 2000), the chronaxie measurement or the time over which a current double that necessary to produce a contraction is applied before the contraction occurs (Straton, Busuttil et al. 1992) and the changes in the amplitude of the F-wave (the secondary CMAP observed after the initial CMAP) have all been examined, and been suggested as potential indicators of time since death. The results of studies examining the response of excitable tissue to electric stimulation have been consistent in that the stimulation response varies predictably over time. However, suitability for absolute indicators of time since death remains in questions as investigators have reported contradictory results related to the effect of the manner of death on the stimulation response (Madea and Henssge 1990; Elmas, Baslo et al. 2002). RNA Degradation RNA degradation, both antemortem and postmortem, is a complex process that is not well understood. Unlike with DNA degradation, continuous degradation of inducible mRNAs by native ribonucleases is used as a means of translational control. After cell death these ribonucleases, no longer kept in check by the mechanisms of cellular homeostasis, combine with exogenous ribonucleases from bacteria and fungi to begin un-inhibited digestion of all cellular RNA. Investigators have noted extensive variability in RNA degradation rates in different tissues (Bauer 2007). Not surprisingly such variability appears to be related to the antemortem ribonuclease activity of the tissue; with relatively ribonuclease poor tissues such as brain and retina exhibiting greater RNA stability (Johnson, Morgan et al. 1986; Malik, Chen et al. 2003) when compared to ribonucleases rich tissues such as liver, stomach and pancreas (Humphreys-Beher, King et al. 1986; Finger, Mercer et al. 1987; Bauer, Gramlich et al. 2003). Additionally, but also not surprisingly, some constitutively expressed mRNAs have been shown to be more stable, or perhaps simply more prevalent, than inducible mRNAs (Inoue, Kimura et al. 2002). Additionally, while intrabrain mRNA levels are fairly constant, interbrain levels vary considerably (Preece, Virley et al. 2003). As a consequence of these observations, the degradation of RNA (total and/or mRNA) have been suggested as a potential analyte to assess time since death. Researchers examining the effect of post mortem interval on RNA stability have examined a variety of targets (mRNA, both tissue specific and constitutively expressed, and total RNA) with an assortment of methods including Reverse Transcriptase (RT) PCR(Ohshima and Sato 1998; Fleige, Walf et al. 2006; Haller, Kanakapalli et al. 2006; Zhao, Zhu et al. 2006), RNA (cDNA) microarrays (Bahn, Augood et al. 2001; Catts, Catts et al. 2005; Son, Bilke et al. 2005; Popova, Mennerich et al. 2008) and quantitative RT-qPCR (VanGuilder, Vrana et al. 2008). Based on these studies, there are indications that beyond time and temperature, factors such as hypoxia, tissue pH, antemortem physiological conditions (coma, seizure activity and injury) postmortem transcriptional activity and RNA sequence can dramatically affect the stability and measurable levels of RNA (Burke, OMalley et al. 1991; Harrison, Heath et al. 1995; Ohshima and Sato 1998; Catts, Catts et al. 2005; Bauer 2007). When examining the sem inal question regarding time since death and temperature some researchers have reported temperature and time as significant factors affecting mRNA levels (Burke, OMalley et al. 1991), while others have reported the reverse (Harrison, Heath et al. 1995; Preece and Cairns 2003). These contradictory data are not surprising given the changes in the specificity, sensitivity and application of the assays used; however, the ultimate question has not been resolved. What is clear from the research is that RNA degradation (mRNA or total) is a complex process (Preece and Cairns 2003; Preece, Virley et al. 2003; Heinrich, Lutz-Bonengel et al. 2007) effected by multiple factors indicating more study will be required before RNA degradation can be considered a reliable indicator of time since death. DNA Degradation and its Effect on DNA Typing Since the initial application of molecular biology techniques to samples of forensic significance in the latter half of the 1980s, forensic scientists have noted that increased exposure to environmental insults can negatively impact DNA quality. Developmental validation studies performed to evaluate the efficacy of new typing techniques (SWGDAM 2008) have found that environmental variables such as heat, high humidity, direct moisture, fungal/bacterial contamination and ultraviolet light can impact the quantity or quality of the DNA sample making them unsuitable for DNA analysis (McNally, Shaler et al. 1989; Graw, Weisser et al. 2000; Takayama, Nakamura et al. 2003; Bender, Farfan et al. 2004; Schneider, Bender et al. 2004; Niemcunowicz-Janica, Pepinski et al. 2007). During transitions in technology from Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis to Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) based testing, researchers noted that samples too degraded to produce an RFLP pattern could still produce profiles using a variety of PCR based markers that evaluated loci shorter in length (Hochmeister, Budowle et al. 1991). This finding supports the hypothesis that degradation in the forensic setting is (not surprisingly) processive. Additional research found that while the DNA in some samples like cadaveric blood and kidney tissue could degrade to the point where it was no longer suitable for DNA fingerprinting after as little as a week (Ludes, Pfitzinger et al. 1993); other samples such as bone (Hochmeister, Budowle et al. 1991; Frank and Llewellyn 1999) and teeth (Schwartz, Schwartz et al. 1991; Pfeiffer, Huhne et al. 1999) could, under most conditions, provide typeable DNA for months. The fact that DNA degradation has a detrimental effect on larger genetic loci, and affects different tissues at different rates is considered to be of extraordinary forensic significance is evidenced by the numbers of studies that seek to examine, and overcome this effect (42 validation studies specifically mentioning DNA degradation from 1995-2009 in PubMed). This makes perfect sense when the observer considers the impact that degradation can have on selecting suitable samples and evaluating the resultant DNA profiles. However, a number of researchers have looked beyond the simple question of how degradation affects the typing of samples to broader questions such as the mechanisms of postmortem degradation (De Marà ­a and Arruti 2004; Foran 2006) and synthesis (Oehmichen, Frasunek et al. 1988) and how that knowledge can be used to assist in the assessment of time since death. DNA degradation by RFLP: Since Sir Alec Jeffreys first applied Southern blotting (Southern 1975) techniques to the testing of forensically significant samples in 1985 (Jeffreys, Brookfield et al. 1985) DNA analysis has revolutionized forensic science. Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism DNA analysis relies on variations in the lengths of DNA fragments generated by enzyme restriction. With restriction fragments ranging from approximately from 2 33 kilobases (Baird, Balazs et al. 1986) successful typing and analysis requires high quality (un-fragmented) DNA. Researchers noted from the outset that in some cases involving older and/or postmortem samples that DNA degradation, tied to the exposures of higher temperatures, resulted in the gradual disappearance of the longer fragments reducing the evidentiary value of older samples (Bar, Kratz